Conveyer speed changing device



Dec. 26, 1939. w BR|NTNALL 2,184,905

CONVEYER SPEED CHANGING DEVICE Filed April 27, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q a I m E I in l E INS/ENTER- HT TURNE 1 5 Dec. 26, 1939.

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w. BRINTNALL 2,184,905

CONVEYER SBEED CHANGING DEVICE FiledrApril 27, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INYENT'UR- HHRRE H- BEINTNHLL- H T TURNE 2'5 Patented Dec. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES CONVEYER SPEED CHANGING DEVICE Harry W. Brintnall, San Francisco; -Cali!., assign- I or to Harry W. Brintnall Company, 'San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of California Application April 27, 1938, Serial No. 204,689

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in speed changers for conveyers and has particular reference to a speed changer for use between two V units of machinery whose input and output con- 5 veyers are of varied or difierent speeds.

The principal object of .this invention is to provide means whereby articles may be passed over a conveyer at a given speed and then carried over a secondary portion of said conveyer at a different speed without halting the constant flow of said articles from one end of the conveyer to the other.

A further object is to provide means for preventing buckling of thin sheet-like articles as they move from one section to the adjoining one.

A further object is to provide means for reducing the spacing between the articles as they are transferred from one section of the conveyer to the adjoining segment.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numeralsare employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of my device showing a series of sheets positioned thereon;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view showing the overlapping belt portions; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, disclosing the means for actuating a change of speed for conveyed articles.

For eiiample, in the printing industry it is often necessary to coat sheets of paper and the like material with, for instance, a varnish, and to then dry these sheets previous to stacking. When the sheets are discharged from a varnishing machine, not shown, they are placed upon a conveyer of relatively high speed and, consequently, are spaced aconsiderable distance apart.

In order to drythese sheets,as mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, it is customary to pass them through a mechanical dryer of suitable size. Were it necessary for the sheets to remain spaced apart as originally deposited upon the conveyer by the varnishing machine, it would be compulsory to employ an extremely large and cumbersome dryer. Therefore, it is obvious that by moving the sheets closer together and at the same time slowing up their rate of travel through the dryer, a much more compact unit can be employed that will be more economical to operate and will also produce as many dried sheets as the larger dryer in a given period of time.

In the accompanying drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numerals 5 and 6 designate side frame members between which the conveyer belts are positioned through the medium of pulley wheels mounted upon shafts l and 9, and in addition a rocker shaft H, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, is transversely mounted between the working and idle return levelsv or runs of the belts. The pulley wheels l2 mounted upon the shaft I serve as the end or reversing pulleys for the initial speed conveyer belts l3, while pulley wheels l4 mounted upon the shaft 9 serve in a like capacity for the secondary speed conveyer belts I 6. Mounted in a suitable manner upon the shaft 9 are rocker arms I! and I8, said rocker arms at one end supporting a shaft 8 upon which are mounted a. plurality of idler pulleys l9 positioned between the working level and the idle return level of the secondary conveyer belts 16 at a selected distance beyond the point of beginning of the working level or forward travel section of said belts. The rocker arms I! and 18 are provided on their other ends with rollers 21 which engage earns 22 mounted upon the shaft H, and whose functions will be hereinafter described.

The shaft H is rotated by means of a moving element 23 from a power take-off, not shown in the drawings, attached to the feeder mechanism of the beforementioned varnish machine.

The result of this construction is that when the sheets A leave the varnishing machine or printing press, as the case may be, and are delivered onto the conveyer belts I3, they will be spaced a considerable distance apart, as shown in Fig. 1, left-hand portion. As these sheets travel from the point of origin, they reach a position where the belts l3 and I6 have their ends interspaced, and at predetermined time intervals the moving element 23, such as a chain, causing rotation of the shaft II and its cams 22, that in turn bear upon the rollers 2!, will cause the rocker arms I! and I8 to move in an arcuate manner about their pivotal points on the shaft 9, thus elevating the shaft 8 and the pulleys l9. Such movement of the pulleys l9 will elevate the working portion of the conveyer belts l6, as indicated in dot and dash lines in Fig. 3. Consequently, a sheet carried to a position over and beyond the pulleys l9 will be slowed down, as it will be lifted clear of the faster travelling belts IS, in a vertical manner. The spacing between the sheet in question and the precedingsheet will be materially reduced, as indicated in the right-hand portion of Fig. 1, as the preceding sheet has been previously slowed, and the following sheet travelling on the faster belts has a tendency to crowd up against its leader due to its greater velocity prior to the action of rocker arms I! and I8. Were it not for the vertical raising of the belts It at predetermined intervals, a sheet would buckle when the forward edge slowed up upon contacting the secondary belts I6, and the rearward edge of said sheet would still be forced ahead at the initial speed.

From the foregoing description, considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be obvious that I have devised a most economically constructed speed changing device that will result in a great saving in time and labor and will effectively accomplish the objects of the invention.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes relative to the material, size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a plurality of conveyer belts moving at a uniform speed, additional conveyer belts moving at a different rate of speed, the ends of said two groups of belts being interspaced, whereby material conveyed by one group of belts will be passed onto the second group of belts, and means for periodically raising the surface of the last mentioned of said groups of belts at a point adjacent the interspacing above the surface of the other group of belts.

2. In a device of the character described, a plurality of conveyer belts moving at a uniform speed, additional conveyer belts moving at a different rate of speed, the ends of said two groups of belts being interspaced, whereby material conveyed by one group of belts will be passed onto the second group of belts, means for periodically raising the surface of the secondary group of said belts at a point adjacent the interspacing above the surface of the other group of belts, said means including pulleys mounted beneath the upper surface of the secondary belts, a shaft extending through said pulleys, rocker arms engaging said shaft, and means for actuating said rocker arms.

3. In a device of the character described, a plurality of conveyer belts moving at a uniform speed, additional conveyer belts moving at a different rate of speed, the ends of said two groups of belts being interspaced, whereby material conveyed by one group of belts will be passed onto the second group of belts, means for periodically raising the surface of the secondary group of belts at a point adjacent the interspacing above the surface of the other group of belts, said means including pulleys mounted beneath the upper surface of said secondary belts, a shaft extending through said pulleys, rocker arms engaging said shaft, rollers carried by the rocker arms and means for actuating said rocker arms, said last mentioned means including a driven cam means adapted to engage the rollers.

4. In a device of the character described, a plurality of conveyer belts moving at a uniform speed, additional belts moving at-a different rate of speed, the respective groups of belts being mounted in interspaced relation, whereby material conveyed by one group of belts will be passed onto the second group of belts, means mounted for rocking movement and disposed transversely between the working and idle runs of the last mentioned 01' said groups of belts for raising the working runs thereof above the working runs of the other group of belts, and means for actuatin the rocking means.

5. In a device of the character described, a plurality of conveyer belts moving at a uniform speed, additional belts moving at a slower rate of speed, the respective groups of belts beingassociated one with the other, whereby material conveyed by one group of belts will be passed onto the second group of belts, shafts and pulleys for the belts, means for periodically raising the working runs of the slower of said groups of belts above the working runs of the other group of belts, said means including idle pulleys mounted between the working and idle runs of the slow speed belts, a shaft having the idle pulleys mounted thereon, rocker arms pivotally mounted between their ends to one of the shafts of the belt pulleys and having the idle pulley shaft mounted on one of the ends thereof, rollers mounted on the opposite ends of said rocker arms, and cam means having the rollers engaged therewith for actuating the rocker arms.

HARRY W. BRINTNAIL. 

